WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Wake Forest simply had no answer for Chelsea Armstrong. Northwestern's all-time leading scorer was a part of all five goals -- recording four goals and an assist -- as the 10th-ranked Wildcats rolled to a 5-2 win over the 13th-ranked Demon Deacons Tuesday afternoon.

The victory was NU's fourth of the season over a ranked opponent and wrapped up the team's season-opening stretch of eight consecutive games away from home.

"I thought today was a total team effort and we played for 70 minutes," Northwestern head coach Tracey Fuchs said. "Cheleea's shot was on fire today and that really catapulted us when we needed it the most. That's a very good Wake Forest team and we're excited to be coming home with two victories on this road trip."

The Demon Deacons earned a pair of early penalty corners that the Wildcats were able to fight off, including a big save by Maddy Carpenter. Northwestern responded with a pair of scoring chances of its own, though it wasn't able to cash in.

Wake Forest eventually earned its third corner of the opening half in the 20th minute of play and it was able to convert as Molly Murphy scored off an assist from Anna Kozniuk to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

NU had the answer five minutes later as Armstrong won the ball at the midfield, darted up the field to her right and fired a blast to the far post past Kaitlyn Ruhf to make it 1-1.

Armstrong struck again with 2:09 remaining in the stanza as she converted her second off the game off assists from Lisa McCarthy and Julia Retzky to put the 'Cats in front.

The two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year wasn't done in the opening stanza, though. Caroline Troncelliti won a turnover and made a run along the right end line and found Armstrong all alone in front of the cage and she deposited it past Ruhf to earn the hat trick, giving NU a 3-1 lead at the break.

Wake Forest changed goalkeepers at the half and the Demon Deacons crept back to within a goal with 20 minutes remaining when Taylor Rhea scored her first goal of the season.

Just when it appeared the Wildcats were in danger of losing their lead, Armstrong took things into her own hands. Another penalty corner resulted in another rocket that found the back of the cage, giving the senior standout her fourth career four-goal game. McCarthy and Retzky assisted on the play.

Armstrong showed that its as good to give as it is to receive just over four minutes later as she made a long feed from the right corner that found Maria Kovalchuk all alone in front for another goal, increasing Northwestern's advantage to 5-2.

Wake Forest finished the match with advantages of 11-10 in shots and 7-5 in penalty corners, but Carpenter had five saves for NU, while the Demon Deacon goalies stopped just three of the Wildcats' eight shots on goal.

Northwestern returns to action at noon Saturday as it opens its home season against Ball State at the Leonard B. Thomas Athletic Complex.